Knitwear designers, sourcing managers, retail buyers and brand directors explored an international offering comprising fibres, yarns, knitwear manufacturing, trend direction and market intelligence at the fifth edition of SPINEXPO New York, held from 16-18 July, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.

The three-day fair attracted 1379 visitors, a 10% increase over the 2012 edition. 37% of the attendees represented the flatbed knitting sector, with 16% involved in knitted fabrics for outerwear, 10% in weaving for clothing, 8.5% working in knitted accessories and 6% in hosiery.

The exhibition showcased 82 exhibitors, including fibre manufacturers, yarn spinners, knitwear and machine manufacturers, and design studios from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mauritius, Italy, Germany, Turkey, France, the UK and USA.

Programme highlights

A general forum displayed knitwear trends developed by Sophie Steller Studio, featuring an array of yarns from the exhibiting spinners and executed by knitwear manufacturers Brilliant Global, PT Jaba Garmindo, GTIG Hubo, and Shanghai Xinnuo; as well as a capsule display of knitwear from graduate students at Nottingham Trent University.

“The trend forum is a great opportunity for our merchants and design teams to see the way the yarns look in knitdowns,” commented Trish Pasquino, Senior Director, Product Development and Sourcing for Knitwear at Lands’ End.

Also on the programme were seminars from WGSN, Nelly Rodi, knitwear designer Steven Oo, and a presentation on textile recycling and garment longevity from Helen Hill of NTU and Karla Magruder of Textile Exchange.

Collaborative approach

Knitwear manufacturers with a variety of specialties added their expertise to the show. Some offered complete vertical service from yarn to finished garment. A collaboration between machine manufacturer Shima Seiki and yarn spinner Nikko Textile created excitement at the interactive stand of PT Jaba Garmindo, Indonesia’s largest knitwear manufacturer. The stand attracted a large number of visitors who could check the manufacturing quality of the Indonesian company.

“SPINEXPO gives me the ability to see the full picture, from raw materials to finished product. I was really pleased to see vendors with full-service operations such as PT Jaba Garmindo,” said Kristin Schmidt, Director of Product Development for Knitwear at PVH.

Good reception

According to SPINEXPO, visitors had a positive reaction to exhibitors who displayed an outstanding quality of developed yarns, and to the growing sophistication of some of the exhibitors’ presentations. “The quality seems much better than in the past, with more cashmere and Merino being shown,” commented a knitwear designer from Ralph Lauren.

Pat Tunsky, Creative Director at Doneger Creative Services, remarked: “What I liked was the mix of spinners and knitwear manufacturers, and the diversity of products from Asia as well as from the West.”

Fine cashmeres and Merino wools, cashmere blends, and chunky but light weight yarns with a vintage look were most sought-after, reported the spinners. Blends with kid mohair and baby alpaca were beautifully on-trend, such as those offered in combination with cashmere at Ningbo Consinee, or the brushed luxury fibre yarns at Manifattura Igea.

www.spinexpo.com